Seeds, dead in the Ground

We took a drive about an hour into the country to buy some supplies, and on the way, we stopped at the famous Eloy Alfaro Ox Cart Factory. We had borrowed the classic movie "Cool Runnings" to watch on the road. It’s based loosely on the true story of a Jamaican bobsled team who went to the Olympics.

During a pivotal race, they have a terrible crash and slide to a stop about 50 feet from the finish line. They are banged up, but alive. Then, in a show of profound courage, they get up, hoist the bobsled on their shoulders, and walk across the finish line.

Knowing what was going on at that point in the film, I glanced at their faces, and I began to weep. Yes, while driving.

I wept because that’s how I feel. That’s how we feel. These first eleven months, preceded by the traumatic uprooting, have felt like we crash-landed in Costa Rica. And every day, with grit and determination (and somedays only one of us for the team), we pick up our wreckage and walk in silence and solidarity toward the finish line. Determined to run this well.

That sounds dramatic as I re-read it, but there’ve been many days that have felt like that.

The Property
On June 12th, we found out that the property we had been pursuing had been sold the day before. Disbelief, shock, sadness, and confusion followed by relief and, somehow, clarity.

That same week, the LORD began speaking to us about "team." Tim Truesdale, a friend of Dave’s, responded to our brief update encouraging us to ask the Lord what he wanted to show us about the word "team." Immediately, Heather brought up the lack of team in our family, and the children agreed. Rather than pursuing a property, we need to pursue being and building a team — work on building our family into the ministry culture and environment we want to establish more broadly.

We began to sense the Lord’s urging to build relationships with people and other ministries with whom we can partner. Shortly after that, DeLynn Hoover, the founder and executive director of VidaNet, inquired a second time if there was some way the Lord might be inviting us to partner with their ministry. We agreed to pray about it and felt like we should have open hearts and minds to discuss a partnership.

DeLynn Hoover
The following month, on July 13th, DeLynn Hoover died of a heart attack. He was 48. He had been serving at the VidaNet Honduras base since the week before we moved in, and was quarantined there. With churches here closed since April, we’d been meeting to worship with the VidaNet staff next door most Sundays. They have become our primary source of community since moving to our current apartment at the beginning of March. His unexpected passing left the staff reeling, and us in shock.

Now the question as to how we might be called to partner with VidaNet has an entirely different feeling to it.

VidaNet
How is the LORD asking us to support our friends next door? We’ve been hosting many campfires with worship and conversation, having them into our home and worshiping together on Sundays. In the light of their leader’s passing, we’re asking if there’s more. Should I, Dave, offer to provide some interim leadership? Will the ministry continue without DeLynn? This we know: I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. (John 12:24)

Right where we live
DeLynn and Gloria Hoover personally own the apartment we’re living in. Since his passing, we don’t know if his family will keep it or sell it. If they should happen to sell it, would we want to buy it as an investment property? We ask ourselves.
There’s a plot of land between our apartment and the VidaNet base. If the building we live in would come up for sale and we were to buy it, could we also buy that plot and use it for a large garden and to raise some farm animals? The garden could be worked by the staff/students and could feed them as well as us—just some thoughts.

A new property
Next to us (opposite the VidaNet base side) is a small Catholic Church. Next to that is a pair of vacant fields with literally the best view of the Central Valley we’ve ever seen. There are no buildings on it, so we’ve been dreaming and scheming about buying and building—so many thoughts (it is not presently for sale).

It’s brought questions of -
"Were we called to the community around the other property?"
or
"Was it just a drawing we had to the house, which naturally coupled with the community?"
and even
"Did we mishear you, Lord?"
(all questions to which we may never and need never have answers)

Heather strongly feels that we should be close to and partnered with another Christian ministry, rather than isolated, which certainly makes sense. While thankful for the affirmations the Lord gave us in the time spent there, I, Dave, have had a growing sense of peace leaving that original neighborhood behind and settling here. It would excite me to be able to purchase the property with the view next door.

Schooling
A real rub has been the past five months of trying to follow along at home with irregular virtual classes and "self-explanatory" GTA’s (autonomous work guides). Of course, the school has struggled to figure things out, and we haven’t always understood what is required or even what they’re saying. It’s been hard.

Additionally, public schools here teach with rote learning (lots of repetition with little understanding or mastery). In the past, Heather has carefully selected curriculum that coincides with individual interests and abilities through homeschool.

For three weeks now, a heavenly gift, some friends from VidaNet, have started coming over daily to help. What a Godsend!! The first-time mom of a 5-month old was struggling with cabin fever and postpartum depression - complicated by the quarantine and her husband recently going back to work. The good Lord has used this interchange to give her a much-needed outlet and saved us and our kids in this current schooling experience.

Nonetheless, and even with this new relief, we’ve been back and forth discerning if we should pull them out of the public schools and go back to homeschooling. This week we made a decision.

Though there has been Spanish language growth (especially in the older two), the younger two have fallen behind academically. Additionally, because of the disrupted schedule, Dave has had little time to work in Ad Lib, which has taken a toll on us financially and emotionally.

Homeschooling has been Heather’s primary way to connect with and sow into the kids. She has felt this loss immensely. Learning together has been a bonding experience for our family. They’ve all missed that since public school started on February 10th. At this time, removing the stress of outside schooling (currently in-house) will dramatically free our family to continue in the mission we believe we are called complete.

Thanks SO much for walking with us!

David, Heather, Quique, Gabi, Tino, Juli, Jáco, and Capi
(Aka Dave, Heather, Aspen, Clementine, Louis, Juliana, Huxley, and Caspian)